1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of visualization tools and more particularly to dashboard visualization tools.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computer technology advances, computing systems have undertaken a role of aggregator, in aggregating information from multiple different sources. With sources ranging from data systems storing information in repositories to end users compiling information, oftentimes the limiting factor in analyzing aggregated information rests not with computing resources, but with the human operator. Specifically, though the computing system may aggregate vast quantities of data in near real-time, in the end a human being must visualize the compilation of data to draw effective conclusions from the visualization. Yet, the ability of the end user to digest compiled information varies inversely with the amount of data presented to the end user. Where the amount of compiled data becomes excessive, it can be nearly impossible for a human being to adequately analyze the data.
Visualization tools are used to understand collected data and correlations therein. Such visualization tools commonly use scatter plot diagrams to visualize operational data. Other tools use slice and dice tree map diagrams. While the spreadsheet application provided the initial foundation for data visualization, spreadsheets are limited in applicability and suffer from the ability to seamlessly provide a real time view to a collection of information. Accordingly, large scale collaborative systems provide embedded visualization tools to analyze internally collected data. In some cases, sophisticated collaborative systems provide end user access to a dashboard view of data visualization. In the dashboard view, a single window presents one or more diagrams representative of collected data.
The development and customization of a dashboard that incorporates rich data visualization is frequently performed by technical staff and not the end-user. In consequence, a dashboard can result that is either overly complex, fails to show appropriate data, or is otherwise difficult to use by the intended audience. Some manage this problem by introducing a lengthy user-centered design process which must be repeated for every new dashboard that is created. Many software vendors that include some form of data visualization in their products, such as information technology (IT) infrastructure management products, provide tools intended to help end users customize particular views of data. Frequently these data visualization tools are complex and user interface oriented, providing dozens of knobs and control points for arranging charts and graphs and connecting data inputs to visual outputs. These data visualization tools also tend to be single-user oriented, focused on lone customizers editing dashboard designs.
Data visualization has been extended to the notion of a Wiki page. A Wiki page is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone accessing the Wiki page to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language known as Wiki markup. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. In the context of a Wiki page, a dashboard can be defined using Wiki markup to fully describe every aspect of the visualization. As such, one creating a dashboard in the Wiki context must be fully versed in Wiki markup in order to generate a dashboard. Further, the dashboard defined in the Wiki page can be modified by the respective users of the Wiki only by way of manually editing the Wiki markup—a tedious task.